All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED UNIT STANDARD:

Read/view, analyse and respond to a variety of texts

SAQA US ID

UNIT STANDARD TITLE

119469

Read/view, analyse and respond to a variety of texts

ORIGINATOR

SGB GET/FET Language and Communication

PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY

-

FIELD

SUBFIELD

Field 04 - Communication Studies and Language

Language

ABET BAND

UNIT STANDARD TYPE

PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL

NQF LEVEL

CREDITS

Undefined

Regular-Fundamental

Level 4

NQF Level 04

5

REGISTRATION STATUS

REGISTRATION START DATE

REGISTRATION END DATE

SAQA DECISION NUMBER

Reregistered

2015-07-01

2018-06-30

SAQA 10105/14

LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT

LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT

2019-06-30

2022-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This unit standard replaces:

US ID

Unit Standard Title

Pre-2009 NQF Level

NQF Level

Credits

Replacement Status

8975

Read analyse and respond to a variety of texts

Level 4

NQF Level 04

5

Complete

PURPOSE OF THE UNIT STANDARD

Competence at this level will enable learners to use analytical skills to make sophisticated judgements about complex human and social issues. They are aware of both the functions of language and of its drama and power.

Learners are critical, reflective and responsive readers and/or viewers of written/signed and visual texts. They are able to draw comparisons between texts, and to compare and contrast themes and issues in texts with those in the contexts in which they live and work. They identify and analyse style and tone/sign size and pace and account for their effectiveness in different texts. They are willing to challenge the assumptions and values expressed in texts. They are especially critical readers/viewers of both the written/signed and/or visual mass media. They can access, process and use information from a wide variety of texts.

Learners credited with this unit standard are:

Critically analyse texts produced for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts

Identify and explain the values, attitudes and assumptions in texts

Evaluate the effects of content, language and style on readers'/viewers' responses in specific texts.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

The credit calculation is based on the assumption that learners are already competent in terms of the following outcomes or areas of learning when starting to learn towards this unit standard: NQF Level 3 unit standard entitled Interpret and use information from texts.

UNIT STANDARD RANGE

A wide variety of complex and extended written/signed and visual texts from socio-cultural, learning and workplace contexts.

Specific range statements are provided in the body of the unit standard where they apply to particular specific outcomes or assessment criteria.

Specific Outcomes and Assessment Criteria:

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 1

Critically analyse texts produced for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

Reading and/or viewing strategies appropriate to the purposes for reading/viewing are adopted.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Skim, scan, prediction, knowledge of form and features of text types and different genre.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

Organisational features of texts are identified. The role of each of the features is explained in relation to usefulness in making meaning of readings and/or viewing.

This Unit Standard will be assessed by an assessor and moderated by a moderator, registered with the relevant accredited ETQA responsible for the quality assurance of this Unit Standard.

Any institution offering learning that will enable achievement of this Unit Standard must be accredited as a provider through the appropriate quality assuring ETQA, or Learning Programme approval with an ETQA that has a Memorandum of Understanding with the quality assuring ETQA.

Verification (external moderation) of assessment and moderation by the provider, will be conducted by the relevant quality assuring ETQA according to the moderation guidelines in the relevant Qualification and the agreed ETQA policy and procedures.

An individual wishing to be assessed through RPL against this Unit Standard, may apply to an assessment agency or provider institution accredited by the relevant quality assuring ETQA, or by an ETQA that has a formal agreement/accreditation with the relevant quality assuring ETQA.

UNIT STANDARD ESSENTIAL EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE

The essential embedded knowledge will be assessed through assessment of the specific outcomes in terms of the stipulated assessment criteria.

Learners can understand and explain that languages have certain features and conventions, which can be manipulated. Learners can apply this knowledge and adapt language to suit different contexts, audiences and purposes. Knowledge of formats, conventions, protocols and contexts is acquired through activities used to attain this unit standard.

Learners are unlikely to achieve all the specific outcomes, to the standards described in the assessment criteria, without knowledge of the listed embedded knowledge. This means that for the most part, the possession or lack of the knowledge can be directly inferred from the quality of the learner's performance. Where direct assessment of knowledge is required, assessment criteria have been included in the body of the unit standard.

UNIT STANDARD DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME

N/A

UNIT STANDARD LINKAGES

N/A

Critical Cross-field Outcomes (CCFO):

UNIT STANDARD CCFO IDENTIFYING

Identify and solve problems: using context to decode and make meaning individually and in groups in oral/signed, reading/viewing and written/signed activities.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO WORKING

Work effectively with others and in teams: using interactive speech/signing in activities, discussion and research projects.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO ORGANISING

Organise and manage oneself and one's activities responsibly and effectively through using language.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO COLLECTING

Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information: fundamental to the process of growing language capability across language applications and fields of study.

Use science and technology effectively and critically: using technology to access and present texts and exploring the ethics of science and technology through studying texts from and about these fields.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO DEMONSTRATING

Understand the world as a set of inter-related parts of a system: through using language to explore and express links, and exploring a global range of contexts and texts.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO CONTRIBUTING

Contribute to the full development of oneself: by engaging with texts that stimulate awareness and development of life skills and the learning process.

UNIT STANDARD ASSESSOR CRITERIA

Assessors should keep the following general principles in mind when designing and conducting assessments against this unit standard:

Focus the assessment activities on gathering evidence in terms of the main outcome expressed in the title to ensure assessment is integrated rather than fragmented. Remember we want to declare the person competent in terms of the title. Where assessment at title level is unmanageable, then focus assessment around each specific outcome, or groups of specific outcomes.

Make sure evidence is gathered across the entire range, wherever it applies. Assessment activities should be as close to the real performance as possible, and where simulations or role-plays are used, there should be supporting evidence to show the learner is able to perform in the real situation.

Do not focus the assessment activities on each assessment criterion. Rather make sure the assessment activities focus on outcomes and are sufficient to enable evidence to be gathered around all the assessment criteria.

The assessment criteria provide the specifications against which assessment judgements should be made. In most cases, knowledge can be inferred from the quality of the performances, but in other cases, knowledge and understanding will have to be tested through questioning techniques. Where this is required, there will be assessment criteria to specify the standard required.

The task of the assessor is to gather sufficient evidence, of the prescribed type and quality, as specified in this unit standard, that the learner can achieve the outcomes again and again and again. This means assessors will have to judge how many repeat performances are required before they believe the performance is reproducible.

All assessments should be conducted in line with the following well documented principles of assessment: appropriateness, fairness, manageability, integration into work or learning, validity, direct, authentic, sufficient, systematic, open and consistent.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this unit standard was Reregistered in 2012; 2015.

A pronounceable word formed from the first letter or letters in a phrase or name e.g. SADTU for South African Democratic Teachers Union .

Additive multilingualism

A form of bilingual education in which the language of instruction is not the 1st language of the children, and is not intended to replace it. In an additive bilingual education programme the first language is maintained and supported, but the language of learning and teaching is taught alongside it. When the language of instruction is likely to replace the children's first language, this is called subtractive bilingualism.

Audience
The intended reader, listeners, or viewers of a particular text - in planning a piece of writing/signing learners (speakers/signers/writers/presenters) must take into consideration the purpose and audience in choosing an appropriate form of writing/signing.

Author

The creator or originator of a piece of narrative, whether signed or written.

Coherence

The underlying logical relationship, which links ideas together. Coherence is to do with ideas and meanings. A paragraph (see definition below) is coherent if all its sentences (see definition below) are connected logically so that they are easy to follow. An essay/signed narrative is coherent if its paragraphs are logically connected and the ideas have a unity, forming a logical whole.

Cohesion

Linking ideas by means of language (e.g. the grammar or syntax of a sentence or paragraph) and/or use of space, using logical connectors or linking words/signs such as conjunctions, non manual features (see definition below), pronouns to hold a paragraph together and give it a linguistic unity.

Collage

A form of art in which a variety of materials, such as photographs, fabric, objects, hand-drawn pieces, and printed text, are attached to a surface. Learners can demonstrate their understanding of many themes and issues through the choice of materials and design elements of a collage.

Colloquialism

A word or expression used in everyday conversation but not in formal language.

Constructed dialogue/role shifting

Constructed dialogue is when the signer alternately assumes the role of various characters within a story/narrative, using first person perspective. Ways of doing this can include use of space, head movements, eye gaze, body orientation and movements, etc.

Context

That which precedes or follows a word/sign or text and is essential to its meaning.

The broader literal, social or cultural environment to which a text (or part of a text) is related and which affects its readers'/viewers' understanding.

Controlling idea

An important or central concept, theme, or argument that is used to unify a signed, written, oral, or media text.

Conventions

Accepted practices or rules in the use of language. Some conventions help convey meaning (e.g. use of space, the rules of grammar of a language, punctuation typefaces, capital letters, etc.); others assist in the presentation of content (e.g. use of sign placement, table of contents, headings, footnotes, charts, captions, lists, pictures, index, etc.)

Creative thinking

The process of thinking about ideas or situations in inventive and unusual ways in order to understand them better and respond to them in a new and constructive manner. Learners think creatively in all subject areas when they imagine, invent, alter, or improve a concept or product.

Critical thinking

The process of thinking about ideas or situations in order to understand them fully, identify their implications, and/or make a judgement about what is sensible or reasonable to believe or do.

Discourse

Connected speech or signing or writing which is longer than a conventional sentence; a formal term for a talk, a conversation, or the written/signed treatment of a subject.

Diction

The choice of words or phrases or signs in speech or writing or signing; the particular words or phrases or signs chosen to express an idea.

Editing

The process of correcting grammatical, usage, punctuation/non manual features, and spelling errors to ensure that the writing/signing is clear and correct. The editing process also includes checking writing/signing for coherence of ideas and cohesion of structure. In media, editing involves the selection and juxtaposition of sounds and/or images.

Essay/signed narrative

A prose composition that discusses a subject or makes an argument. This type of writing often presents the writer's/presenter's own ideas on a topic. The SASL equivalent of this would be a signed narrative.

Etymology

The origin and history of the form and meaning of a word/sign.

Figurative language

Words or signs or phrases used in a non-literal way to create a desired effect (e.g. simile, personification, metaphor).

Fluency

The word comes from the flow of a river and suggests a coherence and cohesion that gives language use the quality of being natural, easy to use and easy to interpret.

Foreshadowing

A device in literature in which an author provides an indication of future events in a plot.

Forms of text
Any particular type of text, having specific and distinctive characteristics arising from its purpose, function, and audience.

Visual genres may include photographs, documentaries, travelogues, feature films, soap operas, and cartoons. These can be analysed into more specific genres, for example, feature films could be grouped as westerns, thrillers, dramas, romances, musicals and comedies.

Free verse

Poetry written/signed without a regular metrical pattern, but based on natural rhythms of speech/signing and free expression rather than on a predetermined form. Free verse may be rhymed or unrhymed.

Genre

The types or categories into which literary works are grouped (e.g. signed narrative, novel, short story, essay, poetry, drama, or film)

Grammar

A description of the structure of a language, particularly the way words, signs and phrases are formed and combined to produce sentences. It takes into account the meanings, functions and organisation of these sentences in the system of the language.

Graphic organiser

A visual representation such as a chart, table, timeline, flowchart, or diagram used to record, analyse, synthesise, and assess information and ideas.

Hyperbole

A literary device in which exaggeration is used deliberately for effect or emphasis (eg a flood of tears).

Iconicity

Iconicity as a poetic strategy is the use of signs to represent action/movement, and is often used in conjunction with repetition of parameters and rhythm.

Idiom

A group of words/signs that, through usage, has taken on a special meaning different from the literal meaning (e.g. "keep your shirt on! Or "It's raining cats and dogs").

Implicit meaning

Ideas and concepts that are present but stated indirectly.

Inference

A conclusion drawn from evidence.

Information processing

A general term for the process by which information is identified, understood, stored, organised, retrieved, combined and communicated to form new knowledge.

Irony

A statement or situation that has underlying meaning different from its literal or surface meaning.

Jargon

Apeech, signing or writing used by a group of people who belong to a particular trade, profession, or any other group bound together by mutual interest, e.g. the jargon of law, medical jargon. Jargon is useful when used within a trade or profession, but when it is used to exclude listeners, /readers/viewers from an interaction, it is potentially hurtful or even harmful.

Key questions

There are five common questions that help discover the essential facts: who, what, where, when, and why? In newspaper reports, it is important to cover these questions at the beginning.

A work that uses a combination of media to present information and ideas (e.g. a presentation using slides, computer graphics, posters, and video clips).

Non verbal language/communication

Communication without the use of words/signs, which could be done by gestures or could refer to total body language.

Obfuscation

The deliberate use of words/signs/phrases/jargon/idioms that will not be understood by the listener/reader/viewer. It is a clouding of the issue to avoid taking responsibility for an action or to confuse the listener/viewer into accepting something that should not be lightly accepted

Onomatopoeia

The use of a word having a sound that echoes its sense (e.g. buzz, hum, bang)

Oxymoron

A combination of words/signs with contradictory meanings, used deliberately for effect. It is usually formed by using an adjective to qualify a noun with an opposite meaning (e.g. an open secret).

Paragraph(s)

Where appropriate, 'paragraph (s)' should be read as 'chunks of sign'.

Parameters

Parameters are the building blocks of signs: handshape, location, movement, palm orientation, and non manual features.

Paraphrase

A restatement/expression of an idea or text using one's own words/signs.

Point of view

In fiction, the position of the narrator in relation to the story and audience (e.g. limited/ omniscient/ third-person/first-person narrator or multiple narrators.

Power relations

When a particular group dominates other groups. This dominance could be related to gender, race, nationality, disability or language groups. In this document, the focus is on how the use of language (the choice of words) indicates a relationship that is neutral, empowered or disempowered.

Reading/viewing strategies
Skills and approaches used before, during and after reading/viewing to determine the meaning and increase understanding of a text. Examples are:

Scanning: a type of reading/viewing used to locate a particular piece of information without necessarily attending to other parts of a text

Skimming: a type of reading/viewing used to identify only the main idea or ideas or to pick out any words in capitals/ in italics/underlined, as well as any visuals or font indicators that would help a reader/viewer to understand a passage.

Sifting: selecting the most important ideas, words, facts or finding only those details relevant to a task or purpose

Register

Speech/signing variety used by a particular group of people, usually sharing the same occupation or the same interests. A speaker/writer/presenter/signer must choose signs/words/images that are easily understood by the listener/reader/viewer/audience - the pitch must suit the purpose.

Research

Involves a systematic investigation involving the study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and seek out truth. The following stages are involved: selecting a topics, narrowing the focus, locating appropriate resources, gathering information, analysing material and forming conclusions, presenting the information in written and/or oral/signed form, and documenting the sources of information and ideas.

Rhetorical question

A question not asked for information but for dramatic effect. The question is usually either one that does not need an answer, as the issue is self-evident, or one that the speaker/signer/writer/presenter proceeds to answer immediately.

Role play

A dramatic technique in which participants act the part of another character, usually in order to explore the character's thoughts, feelings, and values.

Paragraph (in relation to SASL)

A paragraph is a coherent and cohesive collection of sentences. Its boundaries may be indicated by manual or non manual devices.

Presenting/signing (also refer to viewing)

SASL does not have a written form. Therefore, reading and writing/presenting outcomes take on a different form, that is, a receptive and productive competence. For simplicity, the unit standards refer to viewing and presenting respectively.

Sentence (in relation to SASL)

A sentence is a unit of meaning made up of a collection of signs and non manual features, always including a verb, and adhering to specific grammatical rules of SASL .

Sign devices

Sign devices are visual strategies used in signed poetry, for example, rhythm, placement, role shifting, and repetition of handshape, location, movement, palm orientation, and non manual features.

Sign parameter

The building blocks of the sign/word: handshape, location, movement, palm orientation, non-manual sign.

Sign devices

These include register, non-manual features (NMFs), placement, role-shift, parameter

Slang

Casual, very informal speech/signing, using expressive but informal words and expressions. Slang is usually related to age or social group rather than to trade or profession (jargon). It is used to stress an identity for those in the know and to exclude those who do not know the terms, for example, words to describe money, grown-ups, police, and activities.

Stylistic devices

A particular pattern of words, a figure of speech or technique used in literature to produce a specific effect, e.g. rhyme, parallel structures, short or one word sentences, analogies, comparisons, contrasts, irony, foreshadowing, similes, metaphors.

Symbol

Something that stands for or represents an abstract idea.

Syntax

The way in which words are arranged to form larger grammatical structures (e.g. phrases, clauses, and sentences).

Technical language

The terminology used in a field or understood by a trade, profession or group of people e.g. in metal -working, the term "pig" means a mould for casting metal. It differs from jargon in being more generally understood and used, for example, by many people rather than a few and it does not have the negative connotations that the word "jargon" carries.

Text
Texts refer to signed, spoken, written, or visual communications, including sign language that communicates meaning to an audience or reader/viewer. A text may be considered from the point of view of its structure, context and function.

Spoken/signed texts: May include conversations, speeches/presentations, prayers, and songs,

The quality and timbre (distinctive character) of the voice used in speaking; the height of pitch and change of pitch which is associated with the pronunciation of syllables or words and which affects the meaning of the word.

Topic sentence

The sentence that expresses the central idea in a paragraph. In SASL, repetition of important signs occurs throughout the paragraph to express the topic of the paragraph or a number of paragraphs.

Voice

In writing: a work's distinctive style of expression, personal or impersonal, conveyed through the author's use of vocabulary, sentence structure, and imagery. In oral/signed communication: the quality of sound produced by a speaker. In grammar: a property of verbs (e.g. active and passive voice).

Writing process
The process involved in producing a polished piece of writing. It comprises several stages. The main stages are:

Generating ideas

Choosing a form of writing to suit the topic, purpose and audience

Developing a plan for writing

Organising ideas

Writing and revising drafts

Editing

Proofreading

Producing and publishing

Venn diagram

Graphs that use circles to present connections and intersections.

Viewing (also referring to signing)

SASL does not have a written form. Therefore, reading and writing/presenting outcomes take on a different form, that is, a receptive and productive competence. For simplicity, the unit standards refer to viewing and presenting respectively.

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.